Auger flow control spout with overflow

ABSTRACT

A spout is used for confining the grain flow from an auger. The auger may be a combine, grain cart unloading auger or a grain auger. The spout includes a chute that mounts on the auger tube. An overflow opening in the chute allows grain or other matter to flow out of the spout if the outlet of the chute is plugged. This prevents filling and overloading of the auger and consequent auger damage.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to auger discharge control and moreparticularly to a flow control spout for an auger, especially theunloading auger of a combine harvester.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Grain or seed is delivered from a combine harvester to the box ofa grain truck by a delivery auger on the combine. The auger has adischarge at the end of the auger tube through which the grain isdelivered. Because the grain is delivered at a high flow rate, there isa considerable spreading of the grain or seed as it leaves the augerdischarge. This in turn leads to “splash”, spillage and wind loss. Thismay be controlled by a spout according to international patentapplication PCT/CA 98/00760. In use the spout is attached to the end ofthe auger to provide containment of the grain flow. It includes a chutehaving a receiving opening larger than the auger tube discharge openingand an outlet opening smaller than the receiver opening. A convergentperipheral wall extends from the inlet opening towards the outletopening. When mounted on the auger tube, the receiving opening confrontsthe auger tube discharge opening and the peripheral wall slopesoutwardly and downwardly from the end of the auger tube and under thedischarge opening.

[0003] The sloping peripheral wall intercepts flow from the augerdischarge, and redirects the flow to a direction with an outwardcomponent. This concentrates the flow from the auger without causing itto back up. In most cases, frusto-conical extensions are mounted on thechute as described in the application referenced above.

[0004] If, through inadvertence of an operator or any other cause, grainor seed is allowed to rise to the level of the spout discharge, thespout discharge may become closed, allowing the grain or seed to buildup in the spout and then the auger. This will overload the auger andcause damage to the auger and its drive.

[0005] Another potential problem may arise if the spout comes intocontact with an external object. For example, if the spout is positionedtoo low with respect to a truck being loaded and the truck hits thespout, damage may be caused to the spout, the auger or the truck.

[0006] The present invention is concerned with improvements in the spoutthat address these concerns.

SUMMARY

[0007] According to one aspect of the present invention there isprovided a spout for an auger having an auger tube with an outer end andan auger tube discharge opening adjacent the outer end, the spoutcomprising:

[0008] a chute having:

[0009] a receiving opening;

[0010] an outlet opening; and

[0011] a convergent peripheral wall extending from the inlet openingtowards the outlet opening;

[0012] an overflow opening in the peripheral wall; and

[0013] a chute mount for mounting the chute on the auger tube with thereceiving opening confronting the auger tube.

[0014] If the level of the material being conveyed rises to anundesirable level inside the chute for any reason, the excess will flowout of the overflow, preventing or delaying filling of the auger andgiving the operator the opportunity to situation, either by removing ablockage or shutting down the auger.

[0015] The overflow is positioned out of the normal flow path of thematerial being conveyed, so that material is not lost through theoverflow. It may be an outer overflow in an outwardly sloping outer sideof the peripheral wall or an inner overflow in the inner side of adischarge collar forming the lowermost part of the peripheral wall,around the outlet opening. In preferred embodiments, both overflows areused.

[0016] The discharge collar is preferably frusto-conical. In use, theinner side of the chute intercepts the flow out of the auger dischargeand directs it outwardly where it impinges upon and swirls about theinside of the collar to discharge downwardly from the spout.

[0017] To avoid the loss of material through the inner overflow, theperipheral wall may include a lip extending forwardly at the top of thedischarge collar, over the inner overflow.

[0018] The inner overflow opening provides overflow capacity additionalto that of the outer overflow and also an early visual warning to anoperator of an overflow condition. This early warning can be augmentedby placing a sensor in the inner overflow, for example a microswitchactuator at the bottom edge, to detect the onset of an overflow over thebottom edge.

[0019] The ingress of material into the chute through the outer overflowopening, high wind conditions and overshoot of material from the augerthrough the outer overflow can be concerns. These can be dealt with byproviding a shield across the opening. This may be spaced sufficientlyfrom the peripheral wall of the chute that there is no undue restrictionof flow. Alternatively, the shield may be sufficiently light weight andfreely movable that free flow is not impeded.

[0020] According to another aspect of the present invention there isprovided a spout for an auger having an auger tube with an auger tubedischarge opening on a bottom side of the auger tube, the spoutcomprising:

[0021] a chute having:

[0022] a receiving opening;

[0023] an outlet opening; and

[0024] a convergent peripheral wall extending from the inlet openingtowards the outlet opening;

[0025] a chute mount for mounting the chute on the auger tube forrotation about the auger tube from a normal position in which thereceiving opening confronts the auger tube discharge opening and theperipheral wall depends from the auger tube, and a released position inwhich the peripheral wall extends laterally from the auger tube; and

[0026] a chute centring device for biasing the spout to the normalposition.

[0027] With this arrangement, engagement of the spout with an externalobject, for example a truck box, will rotate the spout to a sidewaysorientation to clear the obstruction with minimal, and preferably no,damage. The chute will automatically return to the normal position onceit is released from the external engagement.

[0028] In preferred embodiments, the chute mount includes asubstantially cylindrical hood for engagement over the outer end of theauger tube. The chute centring device preferably acts as a retainerholding the hood in place on the tube. The centring device may include aband clamped onto the auger tube and an end flange on the chute toengage the band and limit the travel of the chute along the auger tube.One or more resilient elements, for example springs or elastomericstraps, connect the band and the end flange to bias the chute to thenormal position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate exemplaryembodiments of the present invention:

[0030]FIG. 1 is a side elevation, partially broken away, of a spoutaccording to the present invention mounted on the end of an auger;

[0031]FIG. 2 is an outer end view of the spout;

[0032]FIG. 3 is view along line 3-3 of FIG. 1; and

[0033]FIG. 4 is a side elevation showing a spout support bracket.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0034] Referring to the accompanying drawings and especially to FIGS. 1through 5, there is illustrated a spout 10 for use on a combineunloading auger 12. The auger has an auger tube 14 with an outer end 16and a discharge opening 18 on the bottom side of the tube, adjacent theouter end.

[0035] The spout 10 includes a hood 20 that extends over the end of theauger tube and along the auger tube, beyond the discharge opening 18. Achute 22 depends from the hood, below the discharge opening. Aperipheral wall 24 of the chute includes an outer end portion 26, twoside portions 28 and an inner end portion 30. The peripheral wall slopesoutwardly from the end of the auger tube, with the outer end portion 26extending beyond the end of the auger tube and the inner end portion 30extending under the discharge opening of the auger tube.

[0036] At the top, the chute has a receiving opening 32 circumscribed bythe peripheral wall 24. In the normal position illustrated in solid linein FIG. 3 the receiving opening confronts the discharge opening 18 ofthe auger tube. At its bottom end the peripheral wall forms afrusto-conical discharge collar 34 leading to a chute outlet opening 36that is off-set outwardly with respect to the receiving opening. Boththe inner end portion 30 and outer end portion 26 of the peripheral wall24 slope outwardly with respect to the auger tube, with the inner endportion 30 converging towards the outer end portion 26 so that the chutetapers from the receiving opening 32 to the discharge collar 34. Thecollar is inclined with respect to the flow leaving the upper section ofthe chute, so that the grain flow will be re-directed down into a grainbox. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the upper part of the inner end portion30 of the chute peripheral wall extends outwardly over the upper end ofthe discharge collar, forming a lip 38 overhanging the inner side of thedischarge collar.

[0037] An outer overflow 40 is provided in the outer end portion 26 ofthe chute peripheral wall. This includes overflow opening 42 that isgenerally rectangular with rounded corners. In the illustratedembodiment, an optional deflector panel 44 extends across the overflowopening to cover the opening. At the top, the panel is connected to thebody of the chute by hinges 46 on which the panel may pivot to an openposition. The force needed to keep the panel closed for normal operationof the spout is small, just sufficient to counter the impact of a smallquantity of grain scattered from the main flow leaving the auger. When abody of grain or seed builds up in the chute for any reason, the panelmoves aside to allow the excess material to flow out without damagingthe spout, the auger or the auger drive.

[0038] A second, inner overflow opening 48 of rectangular shape isformed in the inner side of the discharge collar 34 below the lip 38.This inner opening, being lower and on the inner side will begin todischarge grain earlier than the outer opening at a position that ismore visible to an operator than the outer opening.

[0039] In use, grain or other material being discharged from the augerdischarge 18 will fall onto the sloping inner side of the chute 22. Itis then redirected towards the outer side of the collar 34. The collarthen redirects the flow once more to provide a condensed flow down outof the collar. The flow in the spout passes under the overflow opening40 and over the overflow opening 48.

[0040] An optional sensor 50 may be mounted on the spout to detect theonset of an overflow. The illustrated sensor is a small paddle 52extending into the bottom side of the overflow 48 and a microswitch 54operated by outward deflection of the paddle. The sensor is connected toa circuit 56 to generate an alarm condition, operating an audible orvisual alarm or to shut down the auger.

[0041] The spout is mounted on the auger tube using a chute mount 58 atthe inner end of the spout. The mount includes an annular band 60 spacedfrom the inner end of the hood 20. The band is a flexible, resilientstrap wrapped around the auger tube and clamped in place using a bolt62. The band 60 engages a flange 64 on the inner end of the hood 20 tolimit the travel of the chute along the auger tube. Two additionalresilient straps 66 and 68 are connected to the band 60 by the bolt 62and extend in opposite directions around the auger tube to pins 70 and72 respectively which anchor the straps to the flange 64.

[0042] By maintaining tension on the straps 66 and 68, the spout isrestrained against axial movement off the end of the auger tube. If thechute comes into contact with an external object, for example a truckbox, the spout may rotate as shown in broken line in FIG. 3. In mostcases this will release the engagement with little or no damage.Rotation of the spout tensions one of the straps 66 and 68, and relaxesthe other, thus biasing the chute back to the normal position.

[0043] When the spout is installed on an auger tube that has an axialdischarge from the end of the auger tube the spout is only supported onthe auger tube by a short portion of its length. As shown in FIG. 4, abracket 74 is then mounted on the auger tube to support the outer end ofthe spout. The bracket includes a clamp 76 clamped on to the auger tubeand a support bar 78 mounted on the clamp and extending along the augerpast the end of the spout. A chain 80 is connected to the support barand to a pin 82 at the end of the spout to suspend the outer end of thespout. While allowing it to rotate.

[0044] While one particular embodiment of the present invention has beendescribed in the foregoing, it is to be understood that otherembodiments are possible within the scope of the invention and areintended to be included herein. In one such embodiment, the panel 44 isnot included, the overflow 42 being left open. In another embodiment, awind shield is spaced from and extends across the outer over flowopening 42. Without restricting the overflow from the opening, thisinhibits the ingress of foreign matter and wind into the spout. In viewof these and other modifications that may be made, the invention is beconsidered limited solely by the scope of the appended claims.

1. A spout for an auger having an auger tube with an outer end and anauger tube discharge opening adjacent the outer end, the spoutcomprising: a chute having: a receiving opening; an outlet opening; anda convergent peripheral wall extending from the inlet opening towardsthe outlet opening; an overflow opening in the peripheral wall; and achute mount for mounting the chute on the auger tube with the receivingopening confronting the auger tube.
 2. A spout according to claim 1wherein the outlet opening is offset outwardly with respect to thereceiving opening such that an outer side of the peripheral wall slopesoutwardly, and the overflow opening is an outer overflow opening in theouter side of the peripheral wall.
 3. A spout according to claim 1wherein the discharge collar is substantially frusto-conical.
 4. A spoutaccording to claim 1 including an inner overflow opening in thedischarge collar at an inner side thereof.
 5. A spout according to claim2 including an inner overflow opening in the discharge collar at aninner side thereof.
 6. A spout according to claim 4 wherein an innerside of the peripheral wall includes a lip extending outwardly over theupper end of the discharge collar.
 7. A spout according to claim 5wherein an inner side of the peripheral wall includes a lip extendingoutwardly over the upper end of the discharge collar.
 8. A spoutaccording to claim 4 including a sensor in the inner overflow openingfor detecting the onset of an overflow through the inner overflow.
 9. Aspout according to claim 1 wherein the chute mount comprises means formounting the spout on the auger tube for free rotation about the augertube.
 10. A spout according to claim 9 including resilient means biasingthe spout to a normal position about the auger.
 11. A spout for an augerhaving an auger tube with an auger tube discharge opening on a bottomside of the auger tube, the spout comprising: a chute having: areceiving opening; an outlet opening; and a convergent peripheral wallextending from the inlet opening towards the outlet opening; a chutemount for mounting the chute on the auger tube for rotation about theauger tube from a normal position in which the receiving openingconfronts the auger tube discharge opening and the peripheral walldepends from the auger tube, and a released position in which theperipheral wall extends laterally from the auger tube; and a chutecentring device for biasing the spout to the normal position.
 12. Aspout according to claim 11 wherein the chute mount includes asubstantially cylindrical hood for engagement over an outer end of theauger tube.
 13. A spout according to claim 12 wherein the centringdevice includes a band clamped onto the auger tube and an end flange onthe hood to engage the band and limit the travel of the chute along theauger tube.
 14. A spout according to claim 13 including one or moreresilient elements connecting the band and the end flange to bias thechute to the normal position.
 15. A spout according to claim 2 includinga shield extending across the outer overflow opening to prevent theingress of material into the chute.
 16. A spout according to claim 5including a shield extending across the outer overflow opening toprevent the ingress of material into the chute.